How it Works

Our Process:

Sources: CTS takes in organic waste from a wide variety of sources, including: local municipalities and public agencies; large as well as smaller local landscaping companies; orchards operations; private facilities; and home gardens.

Unlike other green waste operations who cannot handle many of the fibrous or caustic natural materials common to the modern Arizona landscape and require these items (such as palm trees, fronds, and cuttings) to be separated out from their green waste collections, CTS’s process can effectively manage all organic materials and utilize them to create a bio-rich amendment. This saves time and expense for our customers and keeps these materials from burdening our landfills.

Processing: CTS maintains a large Agricultural Composting Facility that allows us to age the collected green waste material (the input) for 90-120 days, which breaks up the material’s chemical bonds, which allows it to be processed consistently for the highest quality.

To process the input, we utilize our powerful horizontal grinder, which utilizes mastication to reduce the material to a size that can be applied directly to cropland.

Although many fertilizers and amendments are produced with uniform sizing, the substances within the finished CTS Greenwaste product range in size. We designed the product to decompose at varying rates after it has been applied and incorporated into cropland to mitigate the immobilization of nitrogen in the soil. (Learn more about the importance of the nitrogen process in the Improving Arizona’s Soil section.)

The finer material within the mix decomposes at a faster rate, giving cropland treated with our soil amendment a readily available source of carbon to support new growth. The larger materials, however, decompose at a slower rate, which allows nutrients and carbon to be released throughout the crop cycle, feeding every stage of growth.

Initial Low-heat Composting: Many conscious individuals these days participate in the age-old process of composting to reduce waste and grow beautiful gardens at home. However, all types of composting are not created equal. To ensure our clients get the maximum benefits possible from this fantastic process, CTS rejects the standard high temperature static pile compost method popular among commercial composters in favor of applied top soil composting, which we believe is the ideal solution for green waste. With this method, we slow the decomposition process, allowing the cropland to receive more nutrients from the processed material.

Why we don’t use the standard high temperature static pile compost method:

1) Composted material stockpiles generate an incredible amount of heat and pose fire risks. CTS does not create a retail compost and transports our processed materially off-site to its cropland destination, eliminating this concern.

2) Additionally, the heat from composted materials accelerates their rate of decomposition, increasing nitrogen volatilization (loss), making the product less effective as a soil amendment for crops. CTS Greenwaste product preserves the nitrogen content, maximizing its availability for crops.

Results: Immediately upon processing, we short-haul the final neutral pH product to croplands in the local area where it is applied by mixing it into the top 8″ layer as a soil amendment. After this, the CTS Greenwaste product is further incorporated through the tillage process, creating a nutrient rich, water-conserving environment for farming.

Ultimately, our amendment process increases the nutrient content of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (N-P-K) and other macro nutrients and micro nutrients that support a healthy growth environment for crops.

How plants benefit from N-P-K:

Nitrogen promotes leaf growth and healthy green appearance.

Phosphorous help form new roots and make seeds, fruit, and flowers and helps fight disease.

Potassium helps stems grow strong and quickly and also fights disease.